The Opening Session began with the opening address by Mr. Kenichi Miyazawa, Special Staff, Atomic Energy Division, Research and Development Bureau, MEXT, followed by welcome remarks and the project review on FNCA Mutation Breeding Project by Dr. Hitoshi Nakagawa, Project Leader of Japan.

Mr. Kenichi Miyazawa

Dr. Hitoshi Nakagawa

In Session 1, progress reports 2006 and final reports on Drought Tolerance in Sorghum and Soybean were delivered by China , Indonesia , Malaysia , the Philippines and Vietnam . Final report was agreed and summarized by participating countries. Research progress and outcomes and remaining problems and future issues were discussed. The points discussed and agreed upon are given in the minutes. After discussion, all the participating countries agreed that this project would be terminated in 2006.

In Session2, report on the sub-project meeting on Disease Resistance in Banana which was held on July 25-28, 2006 in the Philippines was presented by the project leader of Malaysia . After his presentation, the mid-term report on banana and the future work plan were discussed and accepted.

In Session3, progress reports 2006 on Insect Resistance in Orchid were delivered by Indonesia , Malaysia and Thailand . Present status and future work plan were discussed. The points discussed and agreed upon are given in the minutes.

In Session 4, Keynote speech on "Prospective of FNCA and some Views on Mutation Breeding Project" was delivered by Dr. Sueo Machi, FNCA Coordinator of Japan, followed by four special lectures by Japan and Bangladesh .

In Session 5, the status of composition or quality crop breeding mainly focused on rice in Japan and Korea was introduced by both speakers; Dr. M. Nishimura from Japan and Dr. S.-Y. Kang from Korea respectively, followed by proposals for the new sub-project on Composition or Quality Crop Breeding by China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Among them, China , Indonesia , Japan , Korea , Malaysia and Vietnam suggested research on rice especially focused on amylose and other composition contents. Also composition breeding researches on wheat, sweet sorghum, mungbean and soybean were suggested by China , the Philippines and Vietnam as a new sub-project item. Firstly, the composition or quality crop breeding on rice was selected primarily as low amylose content and then the points were discussed and agreed upon are given in the minutes.

In Session 6, the future plan and prospects of the project were discussed. The points suggested and agreed upon are as follows:

Japan proposed to establish the mutation breeding publication database (MBPD). Example of the format was presented.

FNCA Publication of final report on sorghum and soybean sub-project will be drafted by the end of 2006 by each participating country.

FNCA 2007 workshop on mutation breeding will be held in Korea . The orchid meeting will be held in Malaysia in 2007.

This visit was followed by field visits to Nagano Chushin Agricultural Experiment Station and Nagano Prefectural Livestock Experiment Station located in Shiojiri, Nagano Prefecture , where various crops are cultivated because of conductive climatic and traffic conditions.

MINUTES OF FNCA 2006 MUTATION BREEDING WORKSHOP

September 11 – 15, 2006Takasaki, Japan

Following the agreement at the Seventh Coordinators Meeting on March 1-3, 2006 in Tokyo , Japan , the FNCA 2006 Workshop on Mutation Breeding took place as follows,

Opening Session:

The session began with the opening address by Mr. Kenichi Miyazawa, Special Staff, Atomic Energy Division, Research and Development Bureau, MEXT, followed by welcome remarks and the project review on FNCA Mutation Breeding Project by Dr. Hitoshi Nakagawa, Project Leader of Japan.

Session 1: Sub-Project on "Drought Tolerance in Soybean and Sorghum"

Progress reports 2006 and final reports on Drought Tolerance in Sorghum and Soybean were delivered by China , Indonesia , Malaysia , the Philippines and Vietnam . Final report was agreed by participating countries as summarized in the attachment III.

Research progress and outcomes and remaining problems and future issues were discussed. The points discussed and agreed upon are as follows:

Sorghum:

Indonesia and China have developed a total of 12 drought tolerant sorghum mutant lines ( Indonesia 10, China 2) which are also high yielding and good quality. These lines have mutually been exchanged between the two countries which are intended for breeding purposes only.

In China , one promising mutant line, Yuantian 1 was officially released and its demonstration area is ca. 1,000 hectares. Effects of gamma-ray, proton, electron beams and synchrotron on sorghum were studied and suitable doses have been preliminary determined. One of the five sorghum lines ET/20/477 from Indonesia has been used in sweet sorghum breeding program in China , and desirable individual plants with high biomass and high sugar content have been obtained.

In Indonesia , all the sorghum lines introduced from China could grow and perform well. Zhenzhu has been included in mutation-breeding program owing to its drought tolerance and high yielding. Induced mutation using gamma irradiation has produced drought tolerant mutant lines with high yield in dry season. These lines are now being evaluated for official release. Induced mutation using ion-beam irradiation has started in 2005, using materials of Durra and Zhenzhu.

As the project will be terminated this year, the participating countries ( China and Indonesia ) would like to thank FNCA for all of its supports and help so far been extended. Significant results of this project will be of useful for further sorghum breeding program in the two countries, e.g. in breeding for improved quality characters. The new project about quality breeding is, therefore, needed for consideration. FNCA assistance in irradiation services and exchange of expertise among China , Indonesia and Japan are required in the new project.

Soybean:

Each participating country (Indonesia, Malaysia, The Philippines and Vietnam) presented their progress and final reports.

Indonesia reported that they have developed 8 mutant lines with pure line selection in M6 generations with drought tolerance. They also released GH-7 mutant line as cv. Rajabasa in 2004. In addition, mutant line M-220 has also been evaluated by the National Seed Evaluation Committee and 2 more multi-location yield trials will be needed and it is expected to be released in mid 2007. Meanwhile, the Philippines has obtained 3 promising mutant lines for drought tolerance and high yielding ability in the M3 up to M6 generations of both introduced varieties from Vietnam and the local ones for drought tolerance. Vietnam reported that, they had developed a new mutant variety of drought tolerance and high yielding, DT-96 which had been officially released as a National Variety in 2004 and 3 lines with pure line selection in M3 generations have also been developed. In addition, the results of local adaptability test at Hanoi Agricultural Station showed line 01/245 (treatment with gamma-ray 200 Gy) had big seed and high yield, line 58/012 (treatment with 250 Gy) showed early maturity and line 96/26 (treatment with 150 Gy) showed tolerance to drought and high yield.

Several publications were also listed by each country; the Philippines , Malaysia and Vietnam have published 1 scientific paper each, while Indonesia has made 2 publications. With regards to the evaluation indicators for the above outcome, the group gave 5 points for socio-economic impact (application or achievement of project object) and 3 points for scientific impact (basic technology or activity).

After discussion, all the participating countries agreed that this project will be terminated in 2006.

Every country presented the ripple effect to the other fields or benefits to end-user of the varieties they developed. In Indonesia seeds of cv. Rajabasa in the amount of 2.2 tons have been distributed to the licensed growers for seed multiplication, whereas in Vietnam , about 100 tones of certified seeds of variety DT-96 had been distributed to grower for commercial production. Up to now, DT-96's planting area is ca 3000 ha per year. Meanwhile, in the Philippines , collaboration with Bulacan National State University (BNSU) through PNRI-GIA was done. This institution will provide experimental area for large population to screen the developed mutant lines.

The sub- project on Sorghum and Soybean was evaluated by the participants as in the attachment IV.

Session2: Sub-Project on "Disease Resistance in Banana"

Report on the sub-project meeting on Disease Resistance in Banana which was held on July 25-28, 2006 in the Philippines was presented by the project leader of Malaysia . After his presentation, the mid-term report on banana and the future work plan were discussed and accepted as in the attachment V.

Session3: Sub-Project on "Insect Resistance in Orchid"

Progress reports 2006 on Insect Resistance in Orchid were delivered by Indonesia , Malaysia and Thailand . Present status and future work plan were discussed. The points discussed and agreed upon are as follows;

LD50 for all explants types from the three orchid species have been obtained. Thailand has started in vivo selection through natural infestation with thrips for both D. Sonia ‘No 17 Red' and D. Sonia ‘Earsakul'. Malaysia has developed in vitro selection method for irradiated plantlets against mites. Potential resistant plantlets have been transferred to glasshouse for further screening. Artificial infestation (challenge-inoculation) with insects of interest will be carried out at flowering stage. Detailed status on this sub-project is given in the attachment VI.

Session 4: Special Lecture

Keynote speech on "Prospective of FNCA and some Views on Mutation Breeding Project" was delivered by Dr. Sueo Machi, FNCA Coordinator of Japan, followed by four special lectures by Japan and Bangladesh as follows;

Lecture 1 "Mutation Breeding for Forty Five Years and Future in Japan " by Dr. Hitoshi Nakagawa , Japan

Lecture 2 "Pioneering of New Biotechnology by Means of Ion Beams" by Dr. Atsushi Tanaka, Japan

Lecture 3 "Induction and Identification of Chromosomal Change and its Relevance for Lily and Tulip Breeding" by Dr. Keiichi Okazaki , Japan

Session 5: New Sub-Project on "Composition or Quality Crop Breeding"

The status of composition or quality crop breeding mainly focused on rice in Japan and Korea was introduced by both speakers; Dr. M. Nishimura from Japan and Dr. S.-Y. Kang from Korea respectively, followed by proposals for the new sub-project on Composition or Quality Crop Breeding by China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Among them, China , Indonesia , Japan , Korea , Malaysia and Vietnam suggested research on rice especially focused on amylose and other composition contents. Also composition breeding researches on wheat, sweet sorghum, mungbean and soybean were suggested by China , the Philippines and Vietnam as a new sub-project item. Firstly, the composition or quality crop breeding on rice was selected primarily as low amylose content and then the points were discussed and agreed upon are as follows;

Participating countries are China , Indonesia , Japan , Korea , Malaysia , Vietnam and others ( Philippines , Thailand and Bangladesh ). It was decided that each participating country could include additional but easily obtainable qualities/compositions after discussion with the renowned rice breeders of their own. Other intended composition/quality will be focused on protein, fiber, vitamin A, anthocyanin, resistant starch, etc. The working period for new sub-project is five years (from the FY 2007 to FY 2011). The purpose of new sub-project is to generate new materials for breeding amylose library of primary rice varieties using mutation techniques. In order to achieve effective progress of the new project, exchange in terms of breeding materials, information and researchers will be implemented among all the participating countries. Irradiation services using special facilities were proposed by Japan (ion beam and gamma field), Korea (gamma phytotron) and Malaysia (gamma greenhouse) to other participating countries. Detailed plan and status on this sub-project are summarized in the attachment VII.

Bangladesh has proposed to participate in the banana project from 2007 and the proposal was agreed by all the participants.

Session 6: Round Table Discussion

Future plan (the attachment IX) and prospects of the project were discussed. The points suggested and agreed upon are as follows:

Japan proposed to establish the mutation breeding publication database (MBPD). Example of the format was presented as in the attachment VIII.

FNCA Publication of final report on sorghum and soybean sub-project will be drafted by the end of 2006 by each participating country.

FNCA 2007 workshop on mutation breeding will be held in Korea . The orchid meeting will be held in Malaysia in 2007.

This visit was followed by field visits to Nagano Chushin Agricultural Experiment Station and Nagano Prefectural Livestock Experiment Station located in Shiojiri, Nagano Prefecture , where various crops are cultivated because of conductive climatic and traffic conditions.

In Nagano Chushin Agricultural Experiment Station, participants learned the outline of the activities and observe the breeding field plots of forage maize, soybean, and buckwheat under National-Prefectural Cooperation Project* (the attachment X). They also learned the research activities from the leader of breeding projects and discussed observing these crops in each field.

In Nagano Prefectural Livestock Experiment Station, the participants learned about the outline of research activities, released cultivars, and some useful characteristics such as photosensitivity, brown-mid-rib (bmr), disease tolerance etc. They also observed the field where most of the accessions and lines were at harvest stage and discussed about the characteristics.

Note: National-Prefectural Cooperation Program started in 1926 and includes about 60 projects. These projects are conducted in the prefectural experiment station and are financially supported by the national government. In many case, the leader of the project is sent from the national government. While, the prefectural experiment station provides facilities, researchers and technicians, fields for the project. The varieties released from the project become national varieties and named as Norin No. xx. Most of the leading varieties cultivated in Japan , such as Koshihikari were developed in this program. Among the 60 projects, about 80% of the projects are for crop breeding, 15 % are for the control of diseases and pests, 5 % for soil sciences. One of the most famous success stories is the extinction of fruit fly by SIT (Sterile Insect Technology) using gamma ray irradiation in Southern Okinawa Islands.

The Minutes were discussed and agreed upon by all participants in the workshop. This will be reported at the Eighth FNCA Coordinators Meeting to be held in February 2007 in Tokyo , Japan .